Door-locking device for demountable bodies



Aug.26,193o. B, E TCH 1,773,982

DOOR LOCKING DEVICE FOR DEMOUNTABLE BODIES Filed April 6, 1929 l 3 sheets-sheet l B. F. FITCH Aug. 26, 1930.

DOOR LOCKING DEVICE FOR DEMOUNTABLE BODIES ts-Sheet 2 3 Shea Filed April 6, 1929 7 nu A n .,1 1 n lllli-- I II/lili.

B. F. FITCHl Aug. 26, 1930.

DOOR LOCKING DEVICE FOR DMOUNTABLE BODIES Filed April e, 192s s sheets-shea; s l

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.Patented Aug. 26, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BENJAMIN F. FITCH, F GBEENWICH, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T0 MOTOR TEBMINALS COMPANY, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION 0F DELAWARE DOOR-LOCKING DEVICE FOR DEMOUNTABLE BODIES Application led April 6, 1929. Serial No. 352,937.

This invention relates to an apparatus' for handling freight by the use of removable automobile bodies or containers, and is particularly concerned with means whereby the doors of such bodies may be automatically locked. The invention is in the nature of an improvement of my Patent No. 1,685,356 granted September 25th, 1928, to my assignee Motor Terminals Company.

The patent referred to shows and claims a container having a door therein and means carried by the container for automatically locking the door whenever the container is deposited upon a predetermined form of supporting surface. The supporting surface shown in the patent comprises L-shaped corner brackets within whichthe container was deposited, and the mechanism for edecting the locking included an outside pivoted plate 2.0 which engaged such corner bracket. Ihave found that there is danger of such outside plates being damaged in use. I have found also that it is desirable to provide means whereby a selected door of the container may be left unlocked while the others arevautomatically locked, to enable the removal or installation of freight while the container is on its vehicle. The present invention is directed to improvement in both of these features.

l Accordingly, the object of the present invention may be stated to be two-fold; first, to so devise the automatic locking apparatus as to avoid external projections at the sides of the container, and, second, to enable the automatic locking to be readily selective to leave j any desired door unlocked.

In the present invention, I propose to make the automatic locking mechanism cooperate With'inside positioning devices comprislng upwardly lextending projections carried by the vehicle and coacting With recesses within the base of the container, as shown and claimed in my copending application No. 303,305, filed August 31st, 1928. However, I

nov-T propose to arrange such upwardly extending projections so that Without changing their functioning in positioning the container they may be readily adjusted to eluni- 5 nate the locking of any particular door. I

prefer to elect this by providing a bevel -on position to the locking mechanism, leaves the latter free and non-effective, but when in any other position, will itselfV be idle, so that the body of the projection will operate the lock. These positions may be selected by simply turning the projection on its axis.

My invention is illustrated in the drawings hereof, and is hereinafter more fully explained, and the essential novel characteristics are summarized in the claims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a railway car carrying two of my containers properly positioned thereon; Fig. 2 is a plan of the parts shown in Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a truck and container together with suitable hoisting apparatus suspending the container as it is being removed from or placed on the truck; Fig. 4 is an end view of the parts shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a vertical section through a container wall, this View being an enlarged section on the line 5-5 on Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is an elevation from within the container looking toward a pair of doors, being sectioned through the base of the container on a verticalplane indicated by the line 6-6 on Fig.

5, this view showing the parts in unlockedl position; Fig. 7 is a portion of an elevation similar to Fig. 6 lbut showing the parts in locked position; Fig. 8 is a detail illustrating in section the positioning member in such one side of the projection which, when in opposition that the door locking device is noneffective; Fig. 9'is ahorizontal section of the same parts in this unlocked position; Fig. 10 is a view corresponding to Fig. 9 but showing` the parts in locking position.

In Figs. 1 and 2, A indicates an ordinary railway {iat-car. In Figs. 3 and 4, B indicates an automobile truck. The railway car and the truck are designed to cooperate with the same container or demountable body, indicated at C.

To properl position the container on the car or truck, provide'each of these vehicles with upwardly extending projections D which are designed to cooperate with correspondingly formed recesses E formed inA the base of the container. As shown, the

pro\jections D are principally conical membersjrounded at the top, though near the bottom they may have cylindrical portions. Such projections have flat bases d adapted to rest on the car floor or a suitable portion of the truck, and they have downwardly extending shanks all by which they are secured in place. As illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, the shank may extend through the support- 10\ing member andbe provided with a nut d2 tainer is restino` on the vehicle as indicated for instance in Figs. l and 7, the engagement of the socket walls with the projections prevents any displacement of the body.

As indicated in Figs. 3 to 7, the container or demountable body may have a base comprising side sills 10 and end sills 11 and suitable cross members (not shown) all supporting a floor indicated at 12. The container has side walls 13 and end walls 14 and a suitable roof 15, all of which may if desired be of metal plates suitably riveted or other- Wise secured together. The container is provided with suitable double doors hinged thereto. I have shown a pair of doors 20, 21 in each side wall, and a pair in each end wall. These doors are hinged at their outer edges on vertical axes and may be provided with suitable hasps or other means by which they may be padlocked in the ordinary manner.

One door 20 of each pair is made at its free edge to overlap the free edge of the door 21, so that the locking of the door 20 locks both doors. Two vertically extending bolts 30 and 31are shown as being carried on the door section 20, and as being adapted to extend beyond the upper and lower edges of such door section, and to engage behind parts of the frame for holding the doors shut. In the preferred form of construction these /bolts are slidably guided near their free ends by guides 23, 24 carried by the doors. At their proximate'ends, the bolts are pivotally connected, as at 432 and 33, respectively to a disk 34 which is rigidly mounted upon a rock shaft 35. 'This shaft, as illustrated in Fig. 5, extends through the door section 20, and has a handle 36 rigidly mounted thereon at the end thereof. -The handle when turned about the axis of the shaft, will rotate the member 34 and thereby will move the bolts with relation to the door, to lock or unlock lhind a frame beam 17 while the lower bolt 31 passes through an opening in the door sill 18. My invention is concerned with lautomatic means for holding the bolts in locked position under certain conditions such as when the container is deposited upon a car or truck frame and to this end I have shown a cam plate 40, pivotally mounted at 41 by a block 42 beneath the container floor, and having an inwardly turned flange 43 along part of the marginal edges, which flange portion is arranged to engage a shoulder 38 on the lower end of the bolt 31. The cam plate is normally in the position shown in Fig. 6, and thus has no effect on the bolts,but whenever it is swung on its pivot to the position shown in Fig. 7, the iange will rise above the bolt shoulder 38 and hold it down.

The cam plate 40 has connected to it, eccentric of itsaxis of rotation, a slidable operating rod 50. This rod is shown aspassing freely through suitable guides 51 and 52 carried by the end sill' 11 of the container. The other end ofthe rod has a pin and slot connection with a rock arm 54 and to this arm is pivoted apush bar 55, the other end of which terminates in a shoe 56 adapted to stand in the socket E or in a recess 57 at the side thereof.' The spring 58'"surrounding the rod 50 and bearing against a shoulder 59 thereon normally maintains the shoe 56in the socket E and the cam 40 in idle position, as shown in Fig. 6.

. Now when the container is deposited on a support having the projection VD set for cooperation with the shoe 56 such' downward movement causes the shoe to be forced into the recess 57, thus rocking the arm-54, shoving on the rod 50 and thereby rocking the cam 40. This movement carries the flange 43 over the shoulder 38 on the bolt. The result is that, if the bolts have already been turned by hand to locked position, the flange 43 passing over the bolt shoulder prevents its being thereafter raised. On the other hand if the doors have been closed without the bolts being thrown the cam flange 43 engaging the shoulder positively pulls down on the bolt 31 and rocks the disk 34 and thus shoves the bolt 30 up, effecting the locking. In either case it is impossible to unlock the doors when the containersy are in place on the support because the positioning projections D prevent vany releasing movement of the cam. The construction, therefore, functions not only to-hold the bolt in locked position, but also'serves to actuate the bolt in the event of failureby an operator to turn the latch after the doors have been closed, and I insure an automatic locking of the doors without necessitating any attention on the part of the operator other than that of closing the doors.

By mounting the cam and its actuating mechanism beneath the floor and within the upper and lower confines of the end sill 11, I make the members inaccessible so long as the containers are upon the truck or car floor. \Moreover I eliminate all danger of damage to the locking mechanism, as there is no proj ecting part at the side of the container which might become distorted in use. Finally by placing the bolts 30 and 31 inside the door, 1 can still prevent opening of the door, even though the seal 37 or the associated handle be broken by an unauthorized person.

As so far described, the mere deposit of the container on the vehicle automatically locks any unlocked doors and automatically retains in position any that are locked. However it is desirable to provide means to enable any particular'door to be left unlocked. This, for instance, enables package freight to be removed at way-stations directly from the container without requiring the removal of the container from the vehicle. As heretofore mentioned7 I eii'ect this release from locking by changing, from its normal position, one of the projections D which corresponds to the door it is desiredto have unlocked.

As indicated in Fig. 2, the cam locking mechanism 50, 55 etc., for each door extends to a particular Ysocket E, corresponding to a particular projection on the support. Each projection D is provided with a bevel y60 in its side wall. When the projection is turned so that such bevel is in line with the shoe 56, then when the container is deposited on the vehicle, the shoe simply enters such recess and the mechanism is not actuated and the door is left unlocked thereby. This is illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 of the drawings. On the other hand when the projection D is in the normal position, as indicated in Fig. 10, the pair of doors controlled by the bar 55 is automatically locked upon the deposit of the container.

To effect the adjustment of the projections, I prefer to provide each of them with a single square shank d1 which occupies a corresponding opening in the supporting block b or other member carrying the projection. Normally these projections are mounted so that all of the doors will be automatically locked when the container is placed on the vehicle, but when it is 'desired to utilize any container for peddling purposes en route, the vehicle mounting is changed, before the container is deposited, by taking the nut ot' the projection shank, removing the projection and giving it a quarter or halt` turn as may be necessary to bring the bevel into position to register with shoe 56 on the operating bar.

The selective mechanism described enables the vehicle to be so arranged before the container is deposited that any particular door may be left unlocked, the others being automatically locked. This enables convenient peddling from any particular door of the container. If desired, the container may be provided with internal partitions dividing it locked arrives at any way station, the free doorl may be opened and the desired portion of the contents removed manually without changing theposition of the container on the vehicle. When however, the container is transported intact, only between points equipped with hoisting mechanism, the projections on the vehicle are left in normal position so that all the doors are automatically locked.

I claim l. The combination, with a vehicle and a demountable body therefor having a door, of movable door locking mechanism on the body adapted to coact with means on the vehicle, located entirel within the boundary pro- -vided by the p anes of the sides and ends of the body, for actuating said locking mechanism. l

2. The combination, with a vehicle and a demountable body therefor having a door, of cooperative positioning devices on the vehicle and body respectively, and door locking mechanism on the body adapted to coact with the vehicle positioning device and located entirely within the boundary provided by the planes of the sides and ends of the body, for actuating said locking mechanism. j

3, The combination` with a vehicle and a container adapted to be removably mounted thereon, of cooperating position devices car-` ried by the vehicle and the base of the container respectively, and door locking mechanism mounted in the base of the'container and terminalsing short of the sides and ends of the contalner and adapted to coact with a positioning device on the vehicle, for actuating said-locking mechanism.

4. The combination, with a vehicle and/fa. container, of a projection on the vehicle and a corresponding socket in the container and locking mechanism carried by the container and adapted to project into said socket.

5. The combination, with a vehicle and a container having a door, of interlocking positioning devices comprising projections on the vehicle and sockets within the base of theJ container and door locking mechanism car-4 ried by the container and .projecting into on of said sockets thereof.

' the base, mechanism for locking such door insaid socket.

and operating means therefor projecting into cluding a member adapted to project into such socket when the mechanism is idle and adapted to lock the door when forced out of 8. A removable container comprising a base, side and end walls, the base having sills at its sides and ends, a iioor for the container of less depth than the sills, blocks mounted in the four corner spaces beneath'the floor and having downwardly facing cavities adapted to cooperate with upwardly facing projections on a vehicle, door locking mechanism,

such cavity when the container is free from the vehicle and adapted td be automatically moved to effect locking when the container is deposited on the vehicle with the projections of the latter occupying the cavities.

9. A container having a door and door locking mechanism including a member piv- 'otally mounted onthe container within the bottom thereof, a positioning socket in the base of the container, and an operating device for said member adapted -to project into such socket.

10. The combination of a container having a door, a movable locking bar for the door having -a shoulder, an operating device in the base of the container having a flange f adapted to coact with said shoulder or free it, a positioning socket on the underside of the container, and mechanism for operating said device, said .mechanism projecting into the socket when the container is free from its support.

11. The combination with-a vehicle, of a container having a door, mechanism carried by the container for automatically locking the door, the vehicle having a device to c'oact with said mechanism and control it, and means for adjusting said device to" prevent the automatic locking.

12. In combination, a container having a door therein, means carried by the container for automatically locking the door whenever the container is deposited upon a predetermined form of supporting surface, andmeans vfor adjusting vsuch supporting surface to prevent said automatic operation.

13. The combination of a container having a, door. means carried by the container for vdoor locking mechanism or automatically locking the door, a positioning device adapted to coact with thecontainer and with said lookin means for actuating the same, and means or adjusting the positioning device to prevent the automatic locking without interfering with its function in positioning the container.

14. The combination of a container having a plurality of doors, individual lockingv means associated with each door, means for causing said locking means to be automatically eifective when the container is deposited on its support, and means for rendering the automatic locking idle for any selected door.

15. The combination of a containerhaving 'a door in its wall and a positioning socket in its base, a cooperating vehicle for carrying the container and having a corresponding positioning projection adapted to enter the socket, `door locking mechanism adapted to enter the socket and controlled by the presence `or absence of the projection therein, and

means for adjusting any particular projection to cause it to be idle as far as the door locking is concerned while still functioning as a positioning device. f

16. The combination with a container having a plurality of doors, individual locking means for the respective doors, a support for the container having -a pluarlity of lock-controlling devices, each locking means being adapted to cooperate with a corresponding device for actuating the said locking means, and means for renderingv any locking operation idle.

17. The combination of a container having a door, a vehicle for supporting the container, apositioning device on the vehicle adapted to cooperate with the container. door locking mechanism on the container adapted to cooperate with the positioning device for actuating the said locking mechanism, means or adjusting the positioning device to interrupt its cooperation with the door locking mechanism without interrupting its cooperation with the container.

v 18. The combination of a container having a door in its wall and a socket in its base, a p

supporting member having a projection adapted to coact with said socket for positioning the container. and door locking mechanism on the container adapted to coact with said projection for actuating said locking mechanism. said projection being provided- With a cbamfer adapted to registerwith thebe out of registration therewith. l

19. The combination witha container having a plurality of doors in Vitswalls and a plurality of positioning sockets in its base, a

vehicle adapted to carry the container and having a plurality of corresponding upwardly extending projections, individual mechanism for Vlocking the respective doors having operating means adapted to enter the sockets and coact with the corresponding projections for actuatin the same, each projection hav- 'ing a cham er, and means for changing the mounting of the projections so that the chamfer may either avoid the door operatin mechmechanism on the container having 4an oper,

ating member adapted to enter the socket and adapted to register with the chamfer or avoid the chamfer according to the positioning of the projection on its axis, and a spring tending to maintain the operating member in the socket, said operating member being adapted to be forced out of the socket to lockv the door when the chamfer does not register with the operating member.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature.

BENJAMIN F. FITCH. 

